Barking dog shot in head with spear gun

A COURT has heard "something has gone wrong" with a man who snapped at a neighbour's barking dog and allegedly bashed it over the head before shooting it in the head with a speargun.

Father-of-four Alistair Morgan faced a bail hearing at Gosford Local Court on the New South Wales Central Coast on Tuesday where his solicitor Ryan Finch said his client had never been in trouble with the law before.

Mr Finch said "obviously it's a very serious matter", but applied for bail so the 45-year-old could provide for his family and his children aged 9-16.

He said Mr Morgan could provide up to $20,000 surety and live with his mother-in-law at Umina Beach.

Alistair Morgan appeared in Woy Woy court charged over allegedly shooting a dog with a spear gun. Picture: Facebook

Mr Finch told the court Mr Morgan was a very "hands-on" dad who left his job last year for depression and work-related stress.

He said his client also helped raise money for cancer and was engaged in community work.

"His wife is of the view there maybe some psychological intervention," Mr Finch told the court.

"Something has gone wrong."

However Magistrate Bruce Williams refused bail because the risk of him committing a further offence "was no different today to what it was yesterday".

He said the man allegedly broke into his next-door neighbour's home when she went to work by removing a flyscreen.

Mr Williams said the owner of the dog had taken steps to prevent it being a "nuisance" including installing a doggie door.

He said once inside Mr Morgan allegedly "quite severely beat the dog" over the head causing multiple lacerations before dragging it through the house.

"Neighbours could hear the dog and police were called," he said.

Mr Williams said the accused then allegedly disconnected the dog owner's CCTV system she set up to monitor the dog before he "threw the dog over the fence into his own yard".

He said the accused allegedly shot the dog with a speargun with the shaft "embedded in the dog's head".

Hearing the magistrate outline the police facts a pregnant woman seated in court for an unrelated matter got up and stormed out saying she felt sick and the accused should be "locked up".

Police arrested Mr Morgan at his house in Woy Woy, about midday yesterday and recovered a speargun.

He was later charged with aggravated cruelty upon an animal, firing a spear gun in a manner likely to injure a person or property and breaking and entering into a house etc and stealing to a value of less than $60,000.